1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a printer-equipped disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus that includes a disk drive that records information signals into and/or reproduces information signals from a disk-shaped recording medium and a printer that performs printing on a label surface of the disk-shaped recording medium using multiple color inks contained in an ink tank. More specifically, the invention relates to a printer-equipped disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus that performs an indication by changing an indication mode with a single indicator lamp on the basis of the states of inks in the ink tank.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an ink jet printer desirably provides convenience such that the user is able to reliably recognize the ink levels, and when an ink is low in an ink tank, a spare ink is purchased in advance, and then when the ink becomes out, it may be immediately replaced with the new ink. For this reason, a number of techniques are provided, such as a technique for accurately detecting the ink levels in the ink tank and a technique for providing user-friendly indication of the detected ink levels to the user.
The above techniques for indicating the ink levels in the ink tank is, for example, known as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-275156. JP-A-4-275156 describes an ink jet printer and an ink cartridge used in this printer that allow the user to recognize time for replacement of the ink cartridge, which integrates an ink head and a print head, before the printing quality deteriorates. The ink jet printer described in JP-A-4-275156 (hereinafter, referred to as “first existing example”) includes a counter that counts the number of times the print head is energized, a storage device that stores accumulation of counts by the counter, and an indicator that indicates the ink levels in the ink tank on the basis of the value stored in the storage device.
In addition, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-116956 describes this type of existing technique for indicating the ink levels. JP-A-2006-116956 describes an indication controller, a printer and a method of indicating the position of a cartridge for replacement, for instructing an indicator to indicate the position of a cartridge for replacement when cartridge replacement is desired in accordance with a reduction in recording agent level in the cartridge The indication controller described in JP-A-2006-116956 (hereinafter, referred to as “second existing example”) is an indication controller for instructing an indicator to indicate information regarding cartridges mounted on a printer that includes a cartridge accommodation units, which accommodate the cartridges containing recording agents, at plurality of portions, the indication controller including a detector that separately detects the recording agent levels in the respective cartridges; and an indication control unit that, when the recording agent level is lower than a threshold on the basis of a value detected by the detector, instructs the indicator to indicate positional information of the cartridge accommodation unit in which the cartridge for replacement is accommodated.
However, the above described first existing example relates to a monofunctional printer only for printing, and there has been no apparatus that combines a printer with a disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus, which is provided with an ink level indication mechanism. In addition, the above monofunctional printer counts the number of times the print head is energized with an energization counter, accumulates the counts in an EEPROM, and then determines a near end and an ink end on the basis of the accumulated value. Then, when the accumulated value reaches a near end determination value, a near end indication LED lights up, and when the accumulated value reaches an ink end determination value, an ink end indication LED lights up. Thus, there has been a problem that the number of indication LEDs corresponding to the number of ink colors may be required and, therefore, it is not only uneconomical because of an increased number of indicator elements but also it may require a large space for arranging all the indicator elements so as to be easily visible.
In addition, the second existing example also relates to a monofunctional printer. The printer includes an ink level management unit that manages the ink level of each ink cartridge color by color; and an indication control unit that controls an indication of a display. When the ink level of any one of ink cartridges accommodated in a plurality of cartridge accommodation units is lower than a threshold and an ink end is recognized, an ink end screen appears on the display and then shows the position of the cartridge for replacement, color identification code, color model number, and the like. Therefore, because the display may be required as an indicator, expensive components may be required. Thus, it is not only uneconomic but also it may require a large space for arranging the display. Particularly, there has been a problem that an indicator or an indication method may be inappropriate when used in a small disk recording and/or reproducing apparatus.